Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 edition. Excerpt: ... two fluids by moving upon the atoms in the stream form after dislodging weak corpuscles and driving them out under pressure, in the form of streams, to take the place vacated in space by themselves as they move in. Hence each stream of strong corpuscles which moves in gives rise to a similar stream of weak corpuscles moving out, and thus sets up circulation in the two fluids. The weak corpuscles are unable, too, to prevent the further operations of the strong corpuscles as they spread themselves out between the atoms in the film form and draw the atoms together, dislodging the weak corpuscles, as a drop of water spreads out between two plates of glass and draws them together, dislodging the weak fluid air which previously resided between the two plates of glass. In fact, with a distribution of atoms at minute intervals throughout space, such as that which the Kinetic Theory of Gases shows us, as we have seen at p. 98, and with strong corpuscles between all the atoms spreading out between them, and drawing atom to atom by dislodging weak corpuscles, we have universal gravitation. And, moreover, we have an explanation of gravitation, the sufficiency of which can be demonstrated experimentally in a way every one can see and understand, by the action of a drop of water between two clean plates of glass. It is the presence of two fluids, namely, air and water--air weak and unable to resist dislodgment, and water strong--which enables two plates of glass, or any number of plates of glass, to be drawn together, provided that the distances between them all are suitable for the operation of drops of water acting simultaneously upon all pairs of opposite surfaces. So, too, we conclude that the presence of two fluids everywhere between atoms will...show more